The often forgotten principle for retaining employee talent

Six years ago Fortune magazine ran an article that praised companies like Google, Exelon, Starbucks, Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi for their ability to manage and retain their employee talent.

It was written that the keys to success for these companies was their commitment to the following four principles.

1.

Commitment to open and frequent communication

2.

Top level managers being accessible to employees

3.

Managers expecting excellence thus creating high employee standards

And,

4.

These companies moving employees around so that nobody gets too comfortable in one job and so that the employees continue to grow.

I am in full agreement with these principles being the key to developing and maintaining employee talent but I continue to see one of these points ignored by most companies.

Point number 4 now seems to be forgotten from the equation.

Maybe this is a major reason why companies that used to experience very little employee turnover are now needing to learn and implement employee retention strategies.

Since the recession there has been very little internal employee movements between departments and divisions which often leads to employees believing that they are just another number within an organization.

This is particularly common within large companies which is why it is even more important for point number 4 to be considered by operators within a large company.

The past five years can be described in most industries by one word.

Delegation.

People are doing more with less.

Job descriptions are getting longer while the length of the work day stays the same.

Maintaining an employee in their role who has Industry/Relationship/Segment experience is now viewed as the safest route of passage for a company.

Employees are being forced to stay in their roles longer in order to not upset the apple cart and to also avoid the exercise of the company needing to train someone new.

This can only work for so long for a company, as good candidates will always be able to further their career even when it requires leaving an organization.

Our company data continues to show that the success of counter offers is continuing to decline so do not assume that retention can be achieved at the time of an employee resignation.

Be more pro-active in regard to maintaining and developing your employees and remember to address ALL FOUR points listed above.

Farewell,

Mike

My next Blog entry will  occur on Monday November 5

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2012.